At Townfish, we’ve reviewed numerous bottomless brunch offerings and we’ve also reviewed other branches of Tootoomoo, but when we saw that they’ve launched a bargain bottomless brunch offering, it was our duty to check it out and report back to our loyal followers.
The location is ideal for Islingtonites being a short 2 minute walk from Highbury and Islington Station. They have very few covers in a small restaurant space, so booking is essential if you want to enjoy their popular bottomless brunch offering. The decor is very relaxed with wicker basket lampshades, exposed pipework and an open kitchen.
What is particularly winning about their bottomless offering is everything is available on their menu. I’ve been to so many venues where x, y and z are off-menu or involve a supplement; so yes you could enjoy endless amounts of soft shell crab tempura or aromatic duck. The only restriction is in their timings: the bottomless offer is £30 for 1.5 hours or £40 for 2 hours.
What I found utterly astonishing is their bottomless alcohol upgrade is only £5. I literally had to rub my eyes numerous times to believe what I was reading and this is for the full bar menu that includes wines, beers, cocktails and spirits. You can imagine once this outrageously affordable offer escapes to the alcohol-loving British public, there will be queues around the block. We were on the well-behaved end of the spectrum and just tried their thirst-quenching Cinderella cocktail, which had orange, pineapple and cranberry juice and sparkling elderflower water. They were all served in quaint-looking jam jars with colourful straws.
The selection of dishes are pan-Asian varying from Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese. The Japanese offerings were particular fresh. The salmon were nicely chilled and fleshy with authentic kizami wasabi, unlike other versions which are often mixed with Western mustard. The hamachi sashimi had a luscious and buttery texture, which is often lacking at other sushi restaurant in London. The Kappa Mak had finely sliced pieces of crunchy cucumber and according to my vegetarian guest, it was one of the best cucumber sushi he’s tried in recent memory.
There are more filling options too such as the meaty and nutty tasting chicken skewer satay and the crunchy savouriness of the soft shell crab tempura with flavoursome shichimi salt and jalapeno mayo. We also tried a Szechuan chilli veggie tofu main course with real wok power. Although my recommendation is to stick with the lighter dishes so you can try more types of dishes during your tasting session.
baldwin@townfish.com